This invention relates generally to improvements in conveyor assemblies and more particularly to an improved snubber assembly or tow bar for interposition between a driving conveyor assembly and a driven conveyor assembly.
Conveyor assembly systems of this type are in common usage in transporting loads, such for example as automobile bodies, over large areas of a factory floor to facilitate sequential operations on the load at sequential load stations. Systems of this type commonly undergo frequent stop and start operations and the stop and start operations result in heavy shock loading on the driving conveyor assembly as well as on the driven conveyor assembly with the shock loading increasing in severity and destructiveness as the weight of the load and the speed of movement of the assembly increases. Whereas various shock absorbing devices have been proposed to reduce the shock loading as the conveyor assemblies are stopped and started, the prior art absorbing devices have been unsatisfactory in various respects. Specifically, the prior art absorbing devices have either consisted of devices that are independent of the snubber or tow bar assemblies interconnecting the driving and driven conveyor assemblies or devices that are incorporated as a part of the snubber assembly. The independent devices add considerably to the complexity and cost of the overall conveyor system and the incorporated devices have suffered from the disadvantage that the design of the snubber assembly has exposed critical elements of the snubber to damage from falling objects or careless operators and has allowed contaminants to enter into the critical sliding interfaces of the components of the snubber assembly, especially as the assemblies are moved through high contamination areas such as paint spray booths, with the result that frequent servicing of the snubber assemblies is required.